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Avangrid holds first electric vehicle fair

Electric services company Avangrid showed off the latest in green vehicle technology on Tuesday.

The Orange-based company's goal is to give employees the ability to purchase and operate electric vehicles. Employees on the Sustainability Committee say such events connect their jobs to missions they're passionate about in their everyday lives.

Avangrid is the parent company of United Illuminating, which is doing its part to provide clean energy for the future. The company predicts that by 2040, 40 percent of cars on the road will be electric.

Employees were able to drive electric cars and bikes, and the company displayed one of the three utility trucks with an electric boom.

One employee who purchased his electric vehicle in 2006 says he was concerned the car wouldn't even make it to work, but now the cars can travel hundreds of miles on a single charge. The company even uses them to go from Binghamton, New York, to Orange.

Six employees already own electric cars, but Avangrid's CEO Jim Torgerson says the company's goal is to ensure employees have the ability to purchase and use the vehicles.

"They can become advocates for the electric vehicles and show the public how they really can work and the benefits we can get from them," says Torgerson.

Connecticut is expecting an increased amount of ticks this summer, and experts are warning residents to be careful, state officials say. Theodore Andreadis at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment station in New Haven tells News 12 that because of warmer days in January and February, there will be more ticks in the area this summer. "The best method of protection is to just check yourself," he says. "If you've been in an area where there's ticks, you get b...

Connecticut is expecting an increased amount of ticks this summer, and experts are warning residents to be careful, state officials say. Theodore Andreadis at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment station in New Haven tells News 12 that because of warmer days in January and February, there will be more ticks in the area this summer. "The best method of protection is to just check yourself," he says. "If you've been in an area where there's ticks, you get b...